Blackpool v Southampton Preview
Posted on | March 20, 2009 | No Comments
This is a big clash down at the bottom with both of these sides battling the drop this season. Southampton currently sit in 23rd position, three points adrift of safety, while Blackpool are slightly healthier as they occupy 18th. With the Seasiders now sat on forty six points, they’ll know that a win here will take them within touching distance of survival and also bring other sides into the relegation kafuffle.
Blackpool’s season took a real turn for the better last Saturday when they beat fellow strugglers Barnsley 1-0 away from home. It meant that at the time, the Seasiders would go six points clear of the Tykes, although since then that lead has been cut to three points. Still, the situation that Tony Parkes’ men find themselves in suggests they won’t be playing League One football next season. Every season they say 50 points is a benchmark for survival and with Blackpool just four points away from that target with seven games remaining, you really can’t see them dropping out of the division. They’ll know that should they be able to overcome Southampton, they’ll go ten points clear of Saints and that tally will be almost impossible to make up with so little of the season remaining.
A few weeks ago it looked as though Southampton’s season was turning around and there may be an exit route for Saints. However, they’ve now failed to win in their last three after a defeat to Birmingham was followed up by draws against Derby and QPR. However, if Saints are to take positives out of recent weeks, one could be their record at the back which has been almightily impressive since mid-February. They’ve conceded just two goals in their last six games and that’s meant that they’re now a much harder side to play against, opposed to what they were at the start of the season. They’ve still got a lot of work to do to stay in the division though and with three points separating them from safety; they need to convert their draws into wins for this last stretch of the campaign.
As for team news, Blackpool are missing a few players at the moment as Ben Burgess, Ian Evatt and Danny Coid all prepare to sit this one out through injuries. To help combat this mini crisis, Tony Parkes brought in Alan Mahon on loan earlier in the week and he’s tipped to make his debut this weekend. There’s not much to report for the visitors with Lloyd James being the only new absentee as he begins a two game ban. However, with his side struggling to score at the moment, Mark Wotte may decide to make a few changes.
Blackpool will be vibrant following their win over Barnsley last week, but Southampton are a tough team to play against at the moment and will battle for everything. With that, we predict a tense game that results in a 1-1 score line.
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